Deconomix LP Storage

After many a month online, the most popular search term that brings people to this site is “LP storage”, so much so that livingwithmusic.com has taken over the top spot with many search engines. Since November of 2005, I’ve covered quite a few (but not nearly enough) of the most popular storage solutions for the vinyl enthusiast, but my bookmarks are still filled with perhaps a bit more reclusive shelving units that may be less wide-spread but have garnered as positive or even enthusiastic reviews as have the widely-known solutions discussed on this site already.

One manufacturer with a rock-steady reputation I keep coming across, especially on European music forums and discussion boards, is UK-based manufacturer Deconomix.

As far as I could ascertain, Deconomix, founded by Stuart Fisher, has been supplying the more than huge UK-DJ market with vinyl storage solutions for more than 7 years, but it was the steady flow of highly enthusiastic recommendations that turned my attention to their expandable storage solutions that reach industrial vinyl archiving proportions. Additionally, and that’s where things get interesting for people with a thicker wallet, they can also custom-make just about anything you want, from curved consoles to floor to ceiling archiving storage. If you have enough LPs or other vinyl items to open a shop with … hell, they can outfit one of those as well. Continue Reading →

“Musikstapler” by Nils Holger Moormann

Design has always been a passion of mine. I know that lots of people don’t afford that aspect a second glance, at least not consciously, and here in Germany people often forgo the design aspect to opt for the cheaper variants, but often things catch my eye and stay on my radar, no matter if they are furniture, glass, china, cutlery or any other item.

Some months ago I came across an item which I thought might be of interest to music collectors who are looking for space-saving solutions, and Nils Holger Moorman’s “Musikstapler“, which could be translated as “Music Pile(r)”, fits the bill perfectly. Continue Reading →

Boltz LP Shelf Units

Usually I can’t even blink an eye before someone takes me to task for not including this or that in one of my posts and also this time, about two seconds after I put up a post about the nifty Boltz CD racks, Steve, hailing from the US, shot an e-mail my way, complaining that I had forgotten to include the Boltz LP shelf units, his – as he put it – “one true and only love” (did I ever mention that we collectors are a weird bunch?). In a post scriptum, he added that his wife had threatened him with divorce (no surprise, mate) if he ever bought another expansion set and, he tells me, he now has to resort to having them shipped to his office. Collecting can put a real strain on your life and relationship(s), can’t it? Continue Reading →

Boltz CD Racks

One way of adding products to write about to my ever-growing list of items is to simply surf through the list of referrers (for those not in the know, those are the “footprints” on my site left by visitors and kept track of via a small excellent programme called “Mint“, courtesy of Shaun Inman) which then usually takes me to longer or shorter posts referencing my site or discussing one of my posts.

Just the other day I followed another one of those links and was reminded again that I haven’t written anything about Boltz yet. Mind you, it certainly wasn’t the first time I was sent over to their site. It has happened many times because whenever people discuss storage options at some forum or another, the Boltz CD racks invariably pop up, usually by the third post or so … at the latest.

So, let’s see what all the buzz and hype is about. Continue Reading →

German Shelf System ‘max’

Note: This product is no longer available. Ther company now produces a rack system called “Rio”, which I will post about in the near future.

Continue Reading →

Gothic Cabinet Craft: LP Rack

Sometimes I think I should have kept most of my LPs, which I didn’t, but when that thought crosses my mind, I always remember how much space my old record collection took up. When I had LPs only, many years ago, I ended up with a really cheap metal basement shelf system that I could afford but which was also butt-ugly (brown and beige), and it took up an entire wall of my first rather spacious one-room student apartment. I just didn’t have the cash that time to get anything else, and just like today, I favoured investing my money into the music on the shelves instead of the shelf units themselves.

Today I don’t have many LPs left (some I have in storage to be sold one day) and they are housed in my old rock-solid IVAR cupboards. Whenver I come across some interesting posts on music forums discussing LP shelving units though, I always check them out and when I do, I always feel a tinge of regret about having sold or given away such a large part of my old vinyl collection. Continue Reading →

Vismara’s Revolving Towers

Yes, I do have to admit to being anally retrentive when it comes around to keeping order in my stuff. After all, I am the person who has all of his books, films and CDs sorted alphabetically (and I mean each and every one of them), I used to write and rewrite notes on A5 cards until I got them right, I love designing calendars and forms with Indesign, and I like things aligned and neat-looking, no matter what they are. I have been known to unconsciously straighten out other people’s framed posters and photographs (it is beyond me how someone can slap a great photo of, say, Duke Ellington on the wall, only to have it hang crookedly next to another great photo) and I even have my pens stand at attention in a pen holder which holds each pen or pencil separately. Jeez, doesn’t everyone?

I’m not even going to get into Freud’s definition of this state of being; I will just adhere to the more modern metaphorical usage describing someone overly worried about small details. And, in that sense, Vismara’s “Revolving Tower” (site uses frames; see links at the end of this post) is an anally retentive’s wet dream. Continue Reading →

IKEA Benno gives more head

When I have a look at my site statistics (and to be quite honest, I rarely do that), I notice that my short description of using the IKEA Ivar system to store my CDs is by far the most popular post. Of course, people often reach this site trying to find assembly instructions, which I don’t offer, or a “free IVAR system”(?), which I certainly don’t have either, but a whole bunch of those accidental tourists actually decided to subscribe to the site’s RSS feed, so why not pull in the other half of the earth’s population as well, the one that goes for the other outrageously cheap IKEA system, the Benno CD/DVD/Video unit (and no, I did not forget the “Billy” fans … they’ll be served next week)?

I am a fan of cool designs, expensive storage systems and classy shelf units, but my budget is eaten up by what I actually put on the shelves or into the units, so until I win a million in the lottery, IKEA it is for me, and many others like me. Continue Reading →